


stage of wood and skates of plastic

by ftaephoria



Series: they're in love, your honor [7]
Category: ENHYPEN (Band), I-LAND (Korea TV)
Genre: Angst, But only a little, Canon Compliant, Character Study, Introspection, M/M, i love park sunghoon, it's loving park sunghoon hours, ship is NOT the main focus here
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-09
Updated: 2020-12-09
Packaged: 2021-03-10 01:35:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,319
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27975936
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ftaephoria/pseuds/ftaephoria
Summary: Skating routine. Just hearing the words again flooded Sunghoon with memories. Of the cold air rushing past him as he moved across the ice, the crisp air biting at his nose and ears as the sequins on his outfits scratched lightly against his skin. Of the sounds of classical music playing distantly from a speaker, of steel blades scraping across freshly resurfaced ice. The feeling of hearing everything and nothing at once, both alone and surrounded onstage. His first love, his childhood home.or: In the weeks before his birthday, Sunghoon is given a pair of inline skates and is asked to skate again.
Relationships: Lee Heeseung/Park Sunghoon
Series: they're in love, your honor [7]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1973239
Comments: 16
Kudos: 109





	stage of wood and skates of plastic

**Author's Note:**

> so i cried when i watched the mama performance and listen. i've been thinking so much about the symbolic implications of the intro performance and it birthed this.
> 
> i hope you enjoy!

A month before his birthday, Sunghoon was approached by Belift’s executive directors and producers.

“For our MAMA stage, we’ve decided to add a special introduction,” the director said. “It’s rather last minute, and I’m sorry to put you on the spot, but would you be interested in doing a short skating routine?”

 _Skating routine._ Just hearing the words again flooded Sunghoon with memories. Of the cold air rushing past him as he moved across the ice, the crisp air biting at his nose and ears as the sequins on his outfits scratched lightly against his skin. Of the sounds of classical music playing distantly from a speaker, of steel blades scraping across freshly resurfaced ice. The feeling of hearing everything and nothing at once, both alone and surrounded onstage. His first love, his childhood home.

“–Sunghoon-sshi?”

Sunghoon blinked out of his daze, feeling at once overwhelmed with both memories and a rushing feeling of longing.

And that longing to go back, just for a moment, was what prompted him to speak.

“I’ll do it.”

-

“You’re going to do a _skating routine?”_ Jake blurted.

The rest of the members made a “shh” gesture with their hands, pointing to the bedroom door left ajar. The maknae line had retired early; Jungwon and Sunoo were waking up early for school the next day, and Ni-ki always liked to sleep when he could.

“Sorry, sorry,” Jake said, sheepishly leaning back against Sunghoon’s shoulder from where they were lying on the couch. “But seriously, skating? Hasn’t it been a while?”

Sunghoon nodded. “Yeah, I haven’t skated since the outing with Heeseungie-hyung and Jungwonie during I-Land.”

“Were you forced into it?” Jay asked worriedly. 

Heeseung nodded along, concern also etched onto his face. “If you were, feel free to let Jungwonie and I know. We can definitely talk to Bang PD-nim or Doobu-nim.”

“No, no,” Sunghoon immediately waved a hand. “No one forced me. I wanted to do this.”

“If you’re sure,” Jay said, looking skeptical.

Sunghoon couldn’t blame them for their doubts. After all, those two were with him when he had first decided to leave figure skating to focus full-time on becoming an idol. And the process hadn’t been pretty–he figured that was why they were so overprotective.

-

_Please, Sunghoon thought, staring at his phone. Please pick up._

_Finally, by some sort of miracle, both Heeseung and Jay appeared on the screen._

_“Sunghoon?” Heeseung was the first to speak, eyes large with concern. “Is everything alright? Have you talked to your parents yet?”_

_Just hearing the care in Heeseung’s voice, watching Jay’s face wrinkle with worry, was enough to make Sunghoon burst into tears._

_“I’m so scared,” he finally sobbed, tilting the camera up so that his friends couldn’t see him crying. “I haven’t talked to them because I keep hesitating. I keep thinking, what if I’m not making the right choice? What if my parents don’t approve of my choice to leave figure skating for good? I thought this would be easier to say but it’s not, and now I don’t even know–”_

_“Sunghoon.” Jay’s voice was calm and soothing even over the tinny filter of the phone. “Breathe. It’s going to work out. I promise.”_

_“You don’t know that.”_

_“I don’t,” Jay admitted, but his voice remained firm. “But I know you, Sunghoon, and I know how hard you work for your dreams. Whether it’s skating or idol training, I know you have the determination to make it work out regardless of circumstance.”_

_Sunghoon sniffled, feeling a bit more reassured by his words._

_“How about this,” Heeseung proposed. “After you talk to your parents we can all meet up at the station together and go out for dinner.”_

_“Aren’t you busy tonight?” Sunghoon asked, concerned. “I thought you had vocal lessons.”_

_“I can reschedule,” Heeseung said dismissively. “You’re more important.”_

_Jay nodded in agreement. “We’d cancel for you anytime.”_

_Their words were almost enough to make Sunghoon tear up all over again, but he managed to stop himself and sent them a watery smile._

_“Thank you.”_

-

A week after their initial meeting, Sunghoon found himself sitting alone in a company van to head over to the rink. 

The members of ENHYPEN all had different schedules that day. Ni-ki, Jay, and Sunoo were all polishing their ‘Flicker’ performances, Jake was calling his parents and classmates in Australia, Jungwon had to go to school for exams, and Heeseung was working to prepare a different piece for MAMA.

It felt strange to sit in the van without them. Their schedules up to that point had been so focused on learning and recording their music, filming for their music video, and shooting their reality show as a whole group that Sunghoon hadn’t realized how dependent he was on the other members.

_Damn, it hasn’t even been more than an hour, and I already miss them._

The van finally rolled to a stop. Sunghoon made sure to thank the driver profusely before stepping out of the van and doing a double take.

_Why are we at a roller rink…?_

His manager looked at his surprised face apologetically. “Oh, did they not tell you? Your routine is going to take place on inline skates. The directors were talking about a projection on the floor or something, so they wanted the stage to be wood instead of ice.”

Though his heart sank a little, Sunghoon didn’t feel as disappointed as he thought he would have. He missed the ice immensely, of course, but somehow he knew that heading back into the ice rink wouldn’t give him peace of mind. The last thing he wanted to do was question the direction of his own path for the thousandth time.

“Sounds fun,” he finally said. “It’ll be something new.”

-

Sunghoon was close to falling asleep when he felt someone crawl into his bed, curling up against his side. He smelled the faintest hint of soap, and immediately leaned backwards into the other’s embrace.

“How was skating?”

Heeseung’s voice was rough and quiet, careful of the sleeping boys around them.

“It was good,” Sunghoon murmured sleepily. “The skating was actually on wood, which was fun.”

Heeseung made a faint noise of surprise. “That sounds interesting,” he said. 

There was a long pause, and Sunghoon wondered if Heeseung had fallen asleep when he spoke up again, his voice impossibly soft.

“How are you feeling?”

Sunghoon thought about his first practice with inline skates, of the initial discomfort of skating on wheels instead of blades. Of the slide of plastic on wood instead of metal on ice. Of the instructor’s kind smile as they carefully reviewed the basics, generic pop music playing in the background while they trained. The strange feeling of familiarity and unknown mixing together.

“I’m feeling alright,” Sunghoon whispered back.

-

A week before his birthday, Sunghoon had his first rehearsal in front of the others.

They had all gathered for a straight run-through of their MAMA stages, detailing how they would transition and move from one song to the next. 

“I’m excited to see Sunghoon skate,” Jake said excitedly. Sunoo and Ni-ki nodded along eagerly.

Jay, Jungwon, and Heeseung had all seen Sunghoon skate before, so their enthusiasm was quieter. However, their gazes were not absent as Sunghoon made his way to the center of the stage.

The room became silent when Sunghoon finally reached the middle, elegantly skating to a stop. Inline skates, he had found, were somewhat more stable than ice skates, since they had a wider area to balance on and were more accommodating to uneven surfaces. However, their clunkier nature made spins and turns a little harder, a little less intuitive. His routine was much simpler than anything he’d ever done in competition, but he still had to practice just as hard as he would have if he was moving on ice.

Sunghoon took a deep breath in just as the opening chords of “Into the I-Land” began to play from the speakers. The melody, familiar and melancholic, began to swirl around him.

_Turn, glide. Spreadeagle, turn, and spin._

Carefully, he made his way through the routine. still feeling a little bit out of his element as he concluded with his ending pose.

The room filled with the sound of claps and Sunghoon quickly made his way over to the other members.

“That was so cool!” Jake cheered. “You’re so good at skating, Sunghoonie!”

“Those spins were so impressive,” Ni-ki added shyly. 

“Olympic-level talent,” Jungwon nodded with a smile.

“Imagine being that skilled,” Sunoo sighed with a teasing grin.

Sunghoon looked to where Heeseung and Jay were sitting, noticing their unusual silence. 

The two of them looked dazed. Jay’s eyes were red and Heeseung clearly hadn’t realized that he was crying, based on the tear tracks on his face.

“Jay? Heeseung-hyung?”

They snapped out of their stupor and shot Sunghoon proud smiles.

“It was beautiful, Hoonie,” Heeseung praised.

“You did a great job,” Jay agreed.

Sunghoon pouted, reaching out to wipe a stray tear from Heeseung’s cheek. “Then why are you two crying?”

Heeseung and Jay shared glances, seemingly only just noticing the tears on their faces.

After a pause, Jay finally spoke. “It’s just, you seemed so in your element. And I don’t know about Heeseung, but it reminded me so much of back when you were still skating and doing competitions. At least, I know I was imagining what would have happened if you had chosen to continue skating.”

Heeseung nodded in agreement, wiping the lingering wetness from his face. “And then you were skating to ‘Into the I-Land’, too,” he added. “I know that song holds a lot of memories for all of us.”

Jay’s voice was distant and almost sad. “If we hadn’t gone to and made it through I-Land,” he whispered. “I wonder if you’d still be skating like that somewhere far away, on a stage of ice and blades of metal.”

Jake leaned over to place a comforting arm around Jay’s shoulder, and the maknae line moved to surround the boys with warmth.

Sunghoon reached out and took Jay’s and Heeseung’s hands, squeezing them softly.

“But we made it anyway,” he whispered. “And I’m here with you all now.”

-

Three days before his birthday, Sunghoon was performing, for real this time.

They were preparing their final performance to be presented at MAMA the next day, after rehearsing for days on end, making sure each detail was executed perfectly.

Sunghoon stood in the center of the stage, as he had now done many times, and waited as the room grew dim.

The spotlights brightened, the first sound of the piano echoed across the room, and Sunghoon began to skate.

Now that he basically knew the routine by heart, Sunghoon could focus on the world around him. His feet did not carve through the stage, leaving lines where he stood. The air did not give him goosebumps even as he rotated around the stage. Shavings of ice did not pile up at his feet when he spun. There were no sequins scratching at his shoulder, and the only people watching were his members and staff.

Instead, the music playing in the background was a piano rendition of a song that he had performed. The floor glowed with swirling light as he spun. Instead of harsh wind, the air moved past him in a gentle breeze. The mic pack pressed against his back as he moved, and his velvet jacket weighed slightly on his shoulders. 

But when he finished, he looked over to see the awed, excited eyes of his friends, cheering as quietly as they could. Next to them, the director gave him a thumbs up.

Sunghoon smiled.

-

_“Happy birthday, Sunghoonie!”_

_Sunghoon giggled as his little sister threw herself into his arms to give him a hug. His parents smiled fondly, holding out a small box in their hands._

_“We hope you like this gift, Sunghoonie.”_

_Sunghoon thanked his parents before eagerly tearing the gift open._

_Inside was a pair of elegant white figure skates._

_“We know how much you like skating,” Sunghoon’s father started. “So we thought that this might help you become even better.”_

_Sunghoon’s mother nodded. “We wanted to say that we’ll support you if you decide to keep pursuing skating.”_

_Sunghoon broke into a huge smile, rushing over to his parents and giving them a tight hug._

_“I love it. Thank you appa, eomma. I’ll work so hard on skating and become the best!”_

-

“Sunghoonie, wake up.”

Heeseung’s voice was gentle as he coaxed Sunghoon awake. The boy slowly rose, blinking and rubbing his eyes before reeling slightly at the wetness there.

“You were crying,” Heeseung murmured. “I didn’t want to wake you, but I was worried you were having a nightmare.”

Sunghoon leaned his head onto Heeseung’s shoulder, smiling lightly at his concern. “It wasn’t a nightmare. I’m fine.”

Heeseung nodded, wrapping an arm around his shoulder. “That’s good.”

“What time is it?”

Heeseung checked his phone, the glow illuminating their faces for a brief moment. “11:58.”

Sunghoon looked around. “Where are the others?”

“They’re outside. They didn’t want to wake you, but they have something prepared for your birthday. I’ll let them know that you’re awake, but first–”

Just as the clock turned to midnight, Heeseung leaned in to press a brief kiss against Sunghoon’s mouth.

“Happy birthday, Hoonie.”

Sunghoon blinked as Heeseung moved to the door, gesturing to something outside, before the lights to the bedroom flicked on and the rest of the members burst into the room.

 _“Saengil chukahamnida,”_ Sunoo and Jake chorused, singing the birthday song loudly and dramatically. Jungwon giggled as he entered, holding the door as Jay came in with the cake, and Ni-ki ran over to give Sunghoon a hug. Heeseung was the last to reenter, sending Sunghoon a fond smile.

On the day of his birthday, surrounded by his friends and his second love, Sunghoon was home.

**Author's Note:**

> yell at me @ftaephoria on twitter!
> 
> (also, regarding the in-between...it'll be out eventually!!!! i have not abandoned it!!!!!!)


End file.
